CityTime

Sentencing three men to prison for 20 years, a judge urged New York City officials to make substantial reforms Monday to prevent the kind of historic fraud over its project to modernize its payroll systems.

SAIC Inc. attorney Douglas Lobel entered the agreement Wednesday before a federal judge in Manhattan to pay $500 million in restitution and penalties in a deal that helps it avoid prosecution for alleged over billing.

Federal prosecutors have said that nearly the entire sum the city spent on the project was tainted by an epic fraud that involved hundreds of contractors, systemic overbilling and an international money-laundering conspiracy.